Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912)
shows the house flag of "Eastern Shipping Co., Ltd. (#163, p. 44), as
horizontally divided red-white-red. The Eastern Shipping Co. of Penang was
formed in 1907. The famous Chinese family from Penang Khaw had interests in the
company, which they sold, together with the 40 sailing vessels of the company,
to the Straits Steamship Company in 1922/23. The Eastern Shipping Company is
today a subsidiary of the Sarawak Steamship Co.Ivan Sache, 3 April 2008

Pacific International Lines (Pte) Ltd. as it was renamed 3.6.1971 having been
formed in 1967, has used the same flag format for some of its subsidiaries/joint
ventures by changing the lettering. Thus MSC is for the Malaysia Shipping
Corporation Sendirian Berhad of Kuala Lampur.Neale Rosanoski, 23 January 2006

Brown 1982 and 1995 show a flag of the sinister half only, i.e. 5 horizontal
bands of blue-red-white-red-blue with the golden star of 14 points overall. In 1995 the name was changed to Malaysia International
Shipping Corporation Berhad.Neale Rosanoski, 29 January 2005

The link provided by Jarig no longer works but the descendent company of
Sarawak Steamship Co. Berhad located on
http://www.sarawaksteamship.com/
shows a flag logo reversing the direction of the bands. That the version shown
here as a house flag is correct is confirmed albeit by a B&W photo of the vessel
"Auby" appearing on
www.merchantnavyofficers.com/straits4.html (30/1/2005) giving a history of
the Straits Steamship Co. Ltd. which apparently became their owners by the end
of the 1930s. It appears that their ship-owning came to end following the
takeover of Straits Steamship by the Keppel Group in 1983 and the current
company is involved in travel and tours, creative advertising, gallery and air
cargo services. Neale Rosanoski, 29 January 2005

Quoting Joshua Chia Yeong Jia, National Library Board Singapore:
"The Borneo Company Limited was formed in 1856 to exploit the business
opportunities in Borneo (Sarawak). It was also active in other parts of Asia.
The company was unique among the early British trading houses for being
associated with large-scale motor vehicle trade, ever since the introduction of
the motorcar into the region.

Background
In 1841, James Brooke, popularly known as the White Rajah, was granted the
authority over the region of Sarawak by the Sultan of Brunei for his help in
protecting the local ruler of Sarawak against raiding tribes. In 1847, Brooke
was appointed consul general to the island of Borneo. To facilitate trade
between Sarawak and Britain, Brooke enlisted the services of Ludwig Helms, a
Danish merchant who was operating out of Singapore. Helms' business in Singapore
linked him to a Glasgow-based merchant house of MacEwen & Co. which had branches
in Singapore, Batavia and Manila. In 1849, the MacEwen's operations in Singapore
was ran by John Harvey. MacEwen's office in Singapore became Brooke's agent
while Helms managed Brooke's business in Sarawak. MacEwen & Co. was a
family-based operation and evolved from an earlier trading firm, W. R. Paterson
and Co., founded in 1842. In 1849, when Paterson retired, the company became
MacEwen & Co.

Founding
The Borneo Company Limited (BCL) was founded on 8 May 1856 in London as a joint
stock, limited liability company, to exploit the business opportunities in
Sarawak. John Harvey became one of its board members and managing director in
London. With the formation of BCL in London, MacEwen & Co. in Singapore was
dissolved and its properties including the wharves at Telok Blangah were
transferred to BCL. In Singapore, the Borneo Company was established on 31 July
1857, and became a member of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce in 1860. MacEwen
& Co.'s branches in Batavia and Siam were formally transferred to BCL in 1857.
The firm also established branches in Sarawak, China, India, Hong Kong, Thailand
and Java, with Singapore as the centre of BCL's network in the Far East.

Nature of BusinessUp to World War I, BCL in Singapore was involved in the import and export
business including the formation of a shipping cartel.
[...]"

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912)
shows the house flag of "The Borneo Company" (#155, p. 44), based in London, as
white with a cross half blue (left part) and half red (right part). The design
of the cross is very similar, probably not coincidentally, with the design of
the cross used on the old flag of Sarawak.Ivan Sache, 3 April 2008